Doing this hike during wild flower peak has been on my bucket list, and with the great weather forecast, I knew I had to go today!

I made the 3.5 hr drive from Seattle and arrived at 10:30am to a completely full parking lot (even on a Monday) and the overflow lot was full as well. I ended up finding a spot along the highway east of the main lot.

Taking the "more difficult" trail provided me with a significantly quieter trail, though it can at quite a price (that elevation gain is no joke! There was only 1 switch back?)

It was SUPER windy once you break the tree line and see the flowers, so much so that I was getting really cold, even with a couple layers added on. Because of this, I decided to go right when the trail forks again partway past the first stretch of flowers (at Puppy Dog viewpoint), and go into the trees. It was wind-free there, and allowed me to warm up. It's about 0.6 miles, then joins back with the main trail, opening up to a beautiful clearing full of flowers (and dare I saw, less people?).

this hike was in fact steep but well worth the effort, it took me and my dog about 4 hours, we chose the difficult route over the more difficult route lol the flowers were literally insane!!!! i’ve never seen so many loved it, got to the parking lot around 830am and it wasn’t very packed but around 1130amwhen i got down it was pretty full and there was a lot of people coming up. 

worth the effort, be sure to pack water there wasn’t any sources. 

We took the free shuttle to the trailhead and began our hike around 9:15 am. The trail was in excellent condition with only a few rocky sections. The variety of blooming wildflowers was stunning, with balsamroot, paintbrush, and lupine being the most abundant. The view of the Columbia River Gorge and the wildflowers dancing in the wind was absolutely breathtaking. As expected on a beautiful but windy Saturday, the trail was crowded with many hikers. To avoid the crowd, we decided to descend via the Augspurger Mountain Trail. It was a fantastic day!

It’s a steep trail. Using the Augspurger trail to get to the flower field is a more pleasant hike (for us, a not so strong couple). It’s a bit windy near the top. It is one of our favorite hikes.

This trail kicked my butt. Do not underestimate 1000 ft gain per mile. And there’s definitely poison oak on the trail, esp if you make a route with augspuger trail. But wildflower extravaganza and views of hood Helens and peek a boo adams